Working alongside Marc while prepping for his competitions has motivated me to follow his lead and "put my money where my mouth is" and get back on stage. My goal is to come in at the top of the light-heavies. This means I need gain 10-15 lbs of lean mass this off-season, which begins tomorrow

I strongly believe in the Scivation product line and diet strategies and feel people will benefit by watching me prepare to compete over this next year. I hope that reading my journal will give people new information and strategies to apply to themselves and their progress. This section has grown into something great; a helpful, friendly support group. The amount of logs in this forum has exploded, which makes me happy. If you look at any of the logs in this section you will see nothing but positive comments and advice/suggestions to help the logger improve.

Marc and I share a common goal; qualify for national NPC competition. This is step one in our progression. Step two is to compete nationally. Step three is to earn our pro cards. As you follow along in this journal feel free to ask questions as the goal of this journal is to not only keep me motivated and organized but also to help others reach their goals. My journal back to the competitive stage starts tomorrow (9/17/2007)!

I will officially be starting by Lean Mass phase after the Olympia. I am not weighing anything right now, just eyeballing stuff. In 2 weeks, after the Mr. O, I will begin weighing my food again. I just need a little break from that.

Right now I am adding in some carbs pre and post workout. I am eating 75 grams pre (oatmeal + milk) and post workout.

looks good bro...i'm looking to do my first show next summer. i'm also trying to bulk very clean so i'll take some notes
i like the way u have ur split set up (i used to love doing chest the day before arms but was always told not to bc of overtraining tri's)

looks good bro...i'm looking to do my first show next summer. i'm also trying to bulk very clean so i'll take some notes
i like the way u have ur split set up (i used to love doing chest the day before arms but was always told not to bc of overtraining tri's)

u compete natty correct?

Some people's arms get sore after training back or chest, but mine never do. I think with experience you look how to increase the recruitment of the targeted muscle and decrease it on the auxiliary muscles. I have noticed that my strength on Close Grip Bench is down when doing triceps the day after chest though.

I do compete naturally though I have done both tested and untested shows. The last show I did was the 2004 NPC Michigan Natural. As of now I would like to do the NPC Michigan Championships which is usually in June, but I will wait to see the new schedule to pick a competition.

After having a nice big cheat meal on Sunday I decided to start my lean mass phase today. I will be bulking for around 5-6 months depending on what competition I decide to enter. This week will be a little off due to traveling and working at the Mr. O expo, but I will still get all my meals in and a few extra workouts with Marc. This week my training schedule will be different so I can match mine schedule to Marc's.

I count my calories by servings (you can see the food list I use in the Lean Mass Diet book). So going by the servings I will be eating:
310 grams of carbs
294 grams of protein
105 grams of fat
For a total of 3361 Calories.
Since I use the serving method, my calories are actually closer to 3500, so I will simply say my total calories at 3,500.

Other supplements used throughout the day
-Elastmine
-Cissus
-Insopro-R
-Pro-Liver
-Lean Green
-Alcalean
-ZMA

***Note I will be sipping some some Xtend+Creatine+Citrulline+Beta-Alanine+Taurine during the day and with my meals. Totals come out to about: 10 grams BCAA, 5 grams Glutamine, 2 grams of creatine, citrulline malate, beta-alanine, and Taurine. I may drink 1-2 of these a day.

Weights = Chest
Bench Press
275 X 3, 3, 3
My goal is to get this back up to 315 for 3.

Incline Smith Press
225 X 10, 8, 6

Decline Smith Press
225 X 10, 8, 6

Free Motion Flies
50 X 15
60 X 12, 10

Free Motion Cable Crossovers
40 X 12, 12, 10
Going to decrease the weight a tad on this next week and my form wasn't as good as I would like it to be.

Great workout! While I no longer think my chest is a weak point I still want to bring it up in both its mass and overall shape. Using the smith machine for my incline and decline presses allows me to totally focus on the pecs. I feel this routine will work very well for what I am trying to accomplish.

I am finding it hard to get all 7 meals in a day, not the quantity of food, just the eating frequency. I am going to switch back to 6 meals a day like I normally do. I will be readjusting my macronutrient breakdown and then I will repost it.

Man oh man I did not want to get out of bed today lol. But I got up and ate my oatmeal breakfast and then headed to the gym.

Cardio = 20 minutes on Treadmill

Core Warm-Up

Weights = BACK
This workout is usually on Monday but I am rearranging my schedule this week to workout with Marc. I was leery about doing deadlifts the day after squats but I did not have any lower back issues

Deadlift
405 X 3, 3, 3
Time to start adding weight to the bar on this!

Sorry for the lack of updates. Here is my introduction to my Lean Mass Phase (I had to take out all the pics for the file to be small enough, but the full version will be on BB.com very soon). I will post this past week's workouts and meals on Sunday.

The Return of The Beast—Week 6 11/5/2007-11/11/2007
By: Derek Charlebois

As I mentioned last week I will be adding some calories to my diet and switching up my workout program. Let’s go over the changes.

Diet for Week 6

I am keeping my diet very simple. I will be eating a LARGE amount of carbs post-workout. My wife and I will be going to the gym together at 5 AM, which makes it hard to get a meal in. I will be sipping on my Xtend throughout my workout and then grubbing on some carb post workout. Because I am not on a low-carb diet, my glycogen levels will not be low in the morning and my performance should not be negatively affected by not eating prior to the gym.

All of the meals I list during each day match the above macronutrient breakdown for each meal.

Training for Week 6
I will be focusing on some HEAVY sets, specifically 3-rep sets. I love the way blasting out heavy triples feels and my strength climbs when I do them. I will be starting off each workout with a heavy compound exercise and then do some higher rep sets at the end.

I also arranged my workout in terms on the amount of stress placed on my lower back. I will be doing squats on Monday and then deadlifts on Friday followed by two days completely off. I think this new routine will lead to some nice gains in both strength and size.

During weight training I sip on
-8 Scoops Scivation Xtend
I always sip on Xtend during my workout. In fact I haven’t trained without it since 2004!

-Fish Oil (3 grams/day)
-Primaforce Max CLA (3 grams/day)
-GLA (3 grams per/day)
I take these supplements for their nutrient partitioning effects and overall health benefits. All three have been shown to decrease fat gain during a calorie surplus and promote lean mass gains.

-Primaforce Elastamine
-Primaforce Cissus
This is the best joint stack you can buy! Cissus has been a big contributor to the recovery of my lower back.

-Primforce Insopro-R, Pro-liver, Lean Green, and Alcalean
I take these supplements for their nutrient partitioning effects and overall health benefits.

During the day I sip on Xtend. I mix 4 scoops of Xtend in 24 oz. of water and drink 3 of these a day for 12 scoops of Xtend. Xtend mega-dosing baby! One of the perks to working for Scivation!

Cardio
I do 30 minutes of cardio (walking on the treadmill) prior to every workout. I do this (1) for my overall health (2) to warm my body up (3) to keep fat gain down. After cardio I do an ab/core warm-up/strengthen circuit consisting of roman chair crunches, reverse leg raises, hanging leg raises, back extensions, and torso twists. Just 1 set of 15 reps to get my core, specifically my lower back, ready for weight training.

Monday 11/5/2007- Legs

What better way to start off a week than with squats… I can actually think of many better ways lol. I was planning on going for 405 lbs today, but since I changed my schedule up I will be going for 5 sets of 3 reps with 365 lbs.

Squats
365 X 3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Pics from Florida 2006

Seated Calf Raises
180 X 3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Pic from Florida 2007

Leg Extension
150 X 8, 8, 8

Leg Curl
150 X 8, 8, 8

Standing Calf Raises (Reps done SLOW!)
200 X 12, 12, 12

I am not going to be doing stiff leg deadlifts with this workout to limit the stress placed on my lower back. Plus the hamstrings get hit hard by both squats and deadlifts, so they will be heavily stimulated still.

I am going to shoot for 325 X 3 on bench press today. I haven’t benched over 315 in a long time, so this will be fun.

Bench Press
325 X 3, 3, 3, 2, 1
Pics from Texas 2007

Incline Hammer Press
270 X 12, 10, 8

Cable Flies
60 X 20, 15, 12

After 3 sets of 325 X 3 on bench press my wrists/forearms felt very fatigued. I am going to do some ART massage to them this week and try to loosen them up. Because I did not complete all 5 sets with 325 for 3 reps I am going to stay at 325 next week… or I might go up depending on how I feel that day hehe.

Time for some heavy military presses and shrugs! I am going to shoot for 225 for 5 sets of 3 on military press and 405 for 5 sets of 3 on shrugs.

Military Press
225 X 3, 3, 3, 3, 3
Pics from Texas 2007

BB Shrug
405 X 3, 3, 3, 3, 3

DB Side Lateral
40 X 12, 10, 8
Pic from Chicago 2006

DB Shrug
120 X 12, 10, 8

Today’s workout was very tough. I wasn’t sure if I would complete all 5 sets of 225 for 3 reps on military press but I pushed all the reps out! My forearms, specifically my left forearm, were bothering me again today. I was fine during military press and shrugs, but do side laterals really aggravated my left forearm. I am going to continue to do some ART massage to hit and try to work out any trigger points in there.

Today will be my first day of 5 sets of 3 with deadlifts. This should be fun… or painful.

Deadlift
405 X 3, 3, 3, 3, 3
Pics from Chicago 2006

Barbell Curl
145 X 3, 3, 3
95 X 10, 10
Pics from Chicago 2006

Close Grip Bench
285 X 3, 3, 3
225 X 10, 10

Wow! After deadlifts I could have left and felt like I had a very productive workout but I still had to do some arms. I had planned on doing all 5 sets of 3 reps on barbell curl and close grip bench, but my joints were not feeling 100% so I trained instinctively and did the last 2 sets a little lighter.

This week was 100% hard and heavy! My joints are a bit achy from all the heavy lifting. I am thinking about upping my Elastamine and Cissus to see if that helps. I weighed in at 213 on Saturday, so I am up 2 pounds this week, which is perfect.

The Return of The Beast—Week 7 11/12/2007-11/18/2007
By: Derek Charlebois

Last week I had planned on starting to wake up early in the morning (5 AM) and going to the gym, but I have been sleeping in, eating, and then going to the gym. So I am going to posted my revised diet. I am up 2 lbs from last week so I will not be increasing calories.

All of the meals I list during each day match the above macronutrient breakdown for each meal.

Training for Week 7
I will be focusing on some HEAVY sets, specifically 3-rep sets. I love the way blasting out heavy triples feels and my strength climbs when I do them. I will be starting off each workout with a heavy compound exercise and then do some higher rep sets at the end.

I also arranged my workout in terms on the amount of stress placed on my lower back. I will be doing squats on Monday and then deadlifts on Friday followed by two days completely off. I think this new routine will lead to some nice gains in both strength and size.

During weight training I sip on
-8 Scoops Scivation Xtend
I always sip on Xtend during my workout. In fact I haven’t trained without it since 2004!

-Fish Oil (3 grams/day)
-Primaforce Max CLA (3 grams/day)
-GLA (3 grams per/day)
I take these supplements for their nutrient partitioning effects and overall health benefits. All three have been shown to decrease fat gain during a calorie surplus and promote lean mass gains.

-Primaforce Elastamine
-Primaforce Cissus
This is the best joint stack you can buy! Cissus has been a big contributor to the recovery of my lower back.

-Primforce Insopro-R, Pro-liver, Lean Green, and Alcalean
I take these supplements for their nutrient partitioning effects and overall health benefits.

During the day I sip on Xtend. I mix 4 scoops of Xtend in 24 oz. of water and drink 3 of these a day for 12 scoops of Xtend. Xtend mega-dosing baby! One of the perks to working for Scivation!

Cardio
I do 30 minutes of cardio (walking on the treadmill) prior to every workout. I do this (1) for my overall health (2) to warm my body up (3) to keep fat gain down. After cardio I do an ab/core warm-up/strengthen circuit consisting of roman chair crunches, reverse leg raises, hanging leg raises, back extensions, and torso twists. Just 1 set of 15 reps to get my core, specifically my lower back, ready for weight training.

Monday 11/12/2007- Legs

Squats
375 X 3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Pics from Florida 2006

Seated Calf Raises
190 X 3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Pic from Florida 2007

Leg Extension
150 X 10, 10, 10

Leg Curl
150 X 10, 10, 10

Standing Calf Raises (Reps done SLOW!)
200 X 12, 12, 12

Note: I am not going to be doing stiff leg deadlifts with this workout to limit the stress placed on my lower back. Plus the hamstrings get hit hard by both squats and deadlifts, so they will be heavily stimulated still.

bro sorry to hi-jack...but i remember u put out an article about training bodyparts twice a week. i'm looking to hit chest and biceps twice a week with decent volume 8-12 reps.
i'm already doing bi's twice a week (after back on tues and with tri's on fri) basically i'm puzzled as to where to put chest
my delts and tri's totally dominate my chest. i've been pre-exhausting with flyes before my presses which has been helping but i wanna try to hit it twice a week cuz my chest sucks.

bro sorry to hi-jack...but i remember u put out an article about training bodyparts twice a week. i'm looking to hit chest and biceps twice a week with decent volume 8-12 reps.
i'm already doing bi's twice a week (after back on tues and with tri's on fri) basically i'm puzzled as to where to put chest
my delts and tri's totally dominate my chest. i've been pre-exhausting with flyes before my presses which has been helping but i wanna try to hit it twice a week cuz my chest sucks.

I am going to shoot for 335 X 3 on bench press today. I know I won’t be able to complete all 5 sets for 3 reps, but adding weight to the bar is addictive!

Bench Press
335 X 3, 2, 1
275 X 6
225 X 10
Pics from Chicago 2006

Incline Smith Press
185 X 12, 12, 12

Cable Flies
60 X 20, 15, 12

Man oh man, bench was killer today! I completed the first set of 335 for 3 reps and thought I would be able to get 3 reps for at least 2 more sets, but I guess it took more out of me than I thought. After bench I did some incline smith press and cable flies then I was OUT.